Dease, John

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: David A. Armour, “DEASE, JOHN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 5, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/dease_john_5E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Indian Department official; b. probably 1744 in County Cavan (Republic of Ireland), son of Richard Dease and Anne Johnson; m. c. 1779 Jane French, and they had eight children, including Peter Warren Dease; d. 12 Jan. 1801, at the age of 56, in the faubourg Sainte-Marie (Montreal), Lower Canada.
    • He sailed to New York in the summer of 1771 to take a position as personal physician to his uncle Sir William Johnson, superintendent of northern Indians. An executor of Johnson’s will, he inherited £500 and 2,000 acres of land on Lake Champlain when the superintendent died in 1774.
    • On 16 April 1775, just as the American revolution was breaking out, Dease was appointed deputy agent of Indian affairs for the Middle (Cataraqui) District by Guy Johnson, Sir William’s successor. The rebels soon drove the Johnson clan from the Mohawk River and Dease took up residence at Fort Niagara and Montreal.
    • In April 1783 Sir John Johnson, who was by that date in charge of the Indian Department, recommended Dease for the post of deputy agent at Michilimackinac (Mackinac Island, Mich.), perhaps to protect his job while government expenditures were being reduced after the end of the American revolution.
  • Proven Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=2130
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/173729480/john-dease